Yesterday afternoon this pair of humpback whales, mother and calf, arrived in the turning basin at the Port of Sacramento, eighty-nine miles inland from the Golden Gate Bridge. They were first sighted mother's day in the Sacramento River at Rio Vista, some 30 miles south of Sacramento. They have now found their way into the deep water shipping channel and are drawing a huge crowd along the shore.
Unfortunately both have been injured, apparently by a boat propeller. These injuries are not deemed life threatening although the calf has the worst injuries.
KCRA Channel 3 in Sacramento reports:
The director of veterinary science at the center says the injury to the mother is about 2 feet long and 6 inches deep, and it has sharp edges typical of a propeller wound.
The calf's wound appears to be deeper but was difficult to assess because it is on the whale's underside, below the water line.
Researchers say they have less than three weeks to rescue the whales. They are not sure how long the whales can last in fresh water without food.
Tomorrow morning the Marine Mammal Center will begin to transmit whale songs in the river in an attempt to lure them back to the ocean.
Back in 1985 another humpback ventured as far as Rio Vista and became quite a celebrity. Given the name Humphrey, he found his way back to the ocean with some help and returned to San Fransisco bay five years later.
Sea lions are often seen in the river, but for the whales to come this far is very rare.
Update: 5/17/07 This morning at 6:30 AM the crew from the Marine Mammal Center set out to begin the attempt to lure the whales back to the ocean where the salt water will help them heal faster. May they have good luck in their endeavor.
Update: 5/18/07 Yesterday's attempts to lure the whales back towards the ocean were met with frustration as outlined in this Times Online report.
This morning they are once again going out to try using whale songs to get them on their way. An alternate plan, to use a flotilla of boats to herd them along, is being held in reserve in hopes that eventually they will follow the sounds.
Update: 5/19/07 This morning the whales are still here and they have now been officially named "Delta" and "Dawn". Hmm ya, well...
Anyway, attempts yesterday to lure them were once again met with frustration. At one point the whales entered back into the deep water channel only to turn around and come back to the port.
They are going to give the whales a break over the weekend in hopes they may move out on their own. Then another attempt to lure them will begin Monday.
The next step beyond that will be to have a flotilla of boats with people banging on pipes extended into the water to force them downstream. (Kind of like my neighbors with their 105 decibel car radio at 11:30 at night!)
Update: 5/20/07 Despite pleas to the public to stay away and give the whales some peace, over 10,000 people showed up yesterday to view the whales. Similar crowds are expected today.
Now they have vendors hawking bottled water and soda etc. It is turning into quite a spectacle.
Tomorrow they will try again with whale sounds. They may even try using Killer Whale sounds to try and drive them back to the sea. Killer Whales being a predator of Humpbacks.
They also are asking that boating be stopped in the delta until the whales are moved out.
Update: 5/21/07 Yesterday afternoon around 2:00 PM two tugboats headed out of the port to assist a ship. To everyone's surprise the whales began to follow the tugs. At times moving about 6 miles an hour they made their way back towards San Francisco Bay and the ocean beyond.
They were last spotted last night around 10:30 some 20 miles south of Sacramento still heading towards the bay. The Coast guard had been observing them with night vision equipment but stopped for fear of running into them.
As of 7:00 this morning they have yet to be sighted so their current location is unknown.
Update: Noon 5/21/07 The whales are now out of the deep water shipping canal and in the Sacramento river about 1/2 mile north of the Rio Vista bridge. They swam under the bridge several times this morning but have paused in their journey back to the ocean. The rest of the journey will be more difficult as there are many tributaries in the delta where they could become further lost. Boats are being positioned at these tributaries to try and prevent them from taking a wrong turn.
Also they are going to try and tag the mother whale with a satellite tracking device to follow their journey.
Update: 5/22/07 This morning the whales are still at Rio Vista. Last evening they started swimming north again, back towards the port of Sacramento. The flotilla of boats tried to stop them with people banging on pipes, but the whales dove under the boats. Fortunately they are preferring to swim in circles just upstream of the Rio Vista bridge. One success was had when they were able to corral the whales long enough for a ship to pass. Due to 40 mph winds and choppy waters the attempt to tag the mother whale was called off, although they were able to obtain a small tissue sample to check the whales health and determine which pod they are from.
Update: 5/22/07 6:45 PM In this report from KRCA we recieve some unwelcome news:
Experts say there are indications that the health of the whales may be deteriorating. It appears that the whales' exposure to fresh water is affecting the tissue below the blubber layer.
Dr. Frances Gulland of The Marine Mammal Center said veterinarians are continuing to monitor the health of the whales, as well as changes to their wounds and skin condition."The wounds appear to have worsened over time and their skin has changed from smooth and shiny to irregular and pitted," said Gulland.
This is not what we wanted to hear. The whales are still in the Sacramento river about two miles north of the Rio Vista bridge.
Update: 5/23/07 No new news this morning. The whales are still north of Rio Vista and their wounds are beginning to take a toll. They seem to prefer to swim into a current so the hope is that this morning, during the incoming tide, they can get them to move down river. If they can get them to move another 15 miles to Antioch they will be in salt water which will help their wounds heal. The situation is getting desperate and time is of the essence.
Update: 5/24/07 There has been no progress in getting the whales to move today. Recorded sounds of humpbacks feeding, Orcas attacking and pipes banging failed to get a response. A recording of "unnatural" sounds did cause them to move away some, but the biologists decided to give them a break for the rest of the day so as not to distress them any more. Also they don't want the whales to become accustom to the sounds.
Update: 5/25/07 Attempts yesterday to force the whales downstream were counterproductive as the whales have now moved 3 miles further upstream. Today they are going to try spraying them with fire boats, although a number of specialists believe the whales will only think it is raining. On the positive side a compounding pharmacist form Placerville, one of only three such pharmacists in northern California, has been enlisted to blend an antibiotic for the whales. This in hopes it will stem the degradation of their wounds.
Update: 5/25/07, 5:48 pm There seems to be conflicting information regarding the use of the fire hoses to move the whales. Contra Costa Times this morning tells us:
But then later they reveal:11:45 a.m. Fire boat efforts met little success
Rescuers have temporarily abandoned efforts to lure the whales down river using a city of Vallejo fire boat.
The marine experts started the hosing experiment at around 10:40 a.m. in the Cache Slough area more than seven miles north of Vallejo-Times Herald reporter Matthias Gafni, who was aboard the fire boat, called the efforts a cat-and-mouse game as the whales avoided the rescuers by repeatedly slipping out of sight.
"The whales were able to outflank us," he said, noting the hosing was called off because it was only marginally successful.
3:35 p.m. Fire boat efforts promising
I would hate to think that even this kind of news is now getting run through the spin cycle like everything else, but then we get a statement like this:
Using fire hose streams to get the whales' attention proved promising and officials said they hope to expand the number of boats involved to as many as five by Tuesday.
Five times the whales reacted to the streams by turning away. Officials said they are encouraged by the "aversion" reaction and hope the use of more streams and boats will help herding efforts as they try to drive the whales down river.
Meanwhile, officials said they continue to work on a plan to medicate the whales for boat propeller wounds.Whether they are spinning or not remains to be seen, but we do know that they aren't listening!
In this report from two days ago it is reported that:
Scientists initially believed that the humpbacks had been wounded by a boat's propeller. But a comparison of injuries with photographs of other wounded whales suggested the pair had been more likely been sliced by a boat's keel or skeg, a fin jutting below a boat's outboard motor, Gorman said.Here's hoping for the best outcome for these whales.
Update 5/27/07 Yesterday the veterinarians working with the whales were able to inject both with antibiotics which they hope will keep the whales wounds from worsening. Today they took swaps of the blisters on their skin and samples of their breath. These samples will be sent back to the lab to try and assess the whales condition. Attempts at trying to get them to move are on hold until Tuesday to avoid the boat traffic in the delta during this holiday weekend.
Update: 5/27/07 8:30 pm Excellent news tonight! The whales have moved another 15 miles downstream on their own and are near the town of Pittsburgh. This puts them within a few miles of salt water which can start healing their wounds. The International Herald Tribune Reports.
Update: 5/28/07 More good news - As of early this morning the whales had moved even further downstream and were hanging out at the Benecia bridge near the entrance to the Carquinez Straight. Eight miles long, the Carquinez Straight connects Suisun Bay with San Pablo Bay, the northern lobe of San Francisco Bay.
In the last 24 hours they have moved 24 miles and are now in brackish water which should begin helping their wounds to heal.
Update: 5/29/07 This morning the whales have moved into the Carquinez Straight and are swimming just upstream of the Carquinez bridge. Once past this bridge they will enter San Pablo bay. At that point only two more bridges remain between them and the Pacific ocean - the Richmond/San Rafael bridge and the Golden Gate bridge. Their behavior yesterday was encouraging as they seem to be more active with the baby breaching a number of times. This is being viewed as an improvement in their health. With the exception of another dose of antibiotics the specialists are leaving the whales alone as long as they continue to make progress on their own towards the ocean.
Update: 5/29/07 5:30 pm The whales are now frolicking in San Pablo bay having avoided wrong turns into the Napa and Petaluma rivers. Their activities are returning closer to normal and the lesions the had developed, along with an algae coating are sloughing off. They are still on the move heading towards the Richmond/San Rafael bridge. Once into San Francisco bay proper it is hoped they take the right hand turn that will take them to the Golden Gate and Pacific beyond, rather than heading south beyond the Bay Bridge where many hazards await.
Update: 5/30/07 7:30 am This morning the search is on for the whales. They were seen last night in the area of Tiburon Point about 5 miles from the Golden Gate and Pacific Ocean. Once around the point it is a direct shot under the Golden Gate Bridge and out into the ocean. It is hoped that is the direction the whales will follow.
Update: 5/30/07 Noon The whales were reported about 1 mile west of the Golden Gate in the open ocean at 11:26 this morning! More Here!
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